The Littlest Things
by Bad Girls Do It Well
Summary: The littlest things reminded her of him every day. Would they ever find their way back to each other? What Aang and Katara's lives would be like if they hadn't kissed in Ba Sing Se. Now rated M.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Like many Kataang shippers, I felt a little dissatisfied with how Katara treated Aang before they kissed at the end and how the show never had her apologize or explain anything to him.

1. This story is mostly written or outlined already. I have about 6 or 7 chapters planned and I've written up to Chapter 4 already. However, I have yet to decide whether to end this with Kataang together or not. I have some idea of how I want their relationship to progress but whether or not they get a romantic happy ending is still undecided.

2. This is mostly consistent with canon up until the kiss at the end. The last minute or so of the finale did not happen in this fic. Everything else, I've tried to keep consistent with canon but in my story, Aang never went to Ba Sing Se with the gaang. He left on his own before that.

3. Reviews and Feedback are much appreciated. I haven't written fan fiction in years actually so I'm probably very rusty.

**Chapter 1**

The fire nation capitol was lit up like a candle in the dark of night, the city could barely contain its restless energy, for not only were citizen celebrating the upcoming wedding of their Firelord, the first great festivity since the end of the war, but the city also was abuzz with rumors that the Avatar would be returning to the fire nation for the first time in over a year. The streets were bustling with excitement and anticipation at the prospect of once again seeing the young Avatar who was now approaching his sixteenth year and with that milestone, he would soon be of marrying age. Noblemen and political figures from every nation desperately wanted to introduce their beautiful young daughters to the boy. The young man had made something of a reputation for himself over the last years, traveling from town to town, rumored to have at least one girl in each of the nations, perhaps even three in the earth kingdom.

Firelord Zuko shuffled out of his bed, stealing a loving glance towards Mai's sleeping form before quietly slipping from their bedroom to his private study. For reasons unknown, he could barely contain his energy these past weeks. Perhaps he was simply experiencing pre-wedding jitters but more likely, it was attributed to the fact that for the first time in his life, he was in a state of true contentment. The war was long over, the unpleasant business with the colonies had been resolved by the Avatar creating a new shared nation, he had even reunited once again with his beloved mother and in a few short days, he would be married to the woman he loved. Zuko couldn't deny that things were finally going well for him and after a life of emotional turmoil, he also couldn't help but feel anxious that something would come along to ruin his life again.

Before Zuko's thoughts could wander to more even more disagreeable uncertainties, an all too familiar sound rumbled through his ears. _Appa_.

He never imagined that he would miss that sound so much or his friend. It wasn't that he saw Aang rarely but they mostly met under political circumstances. Rarely were they able to enjoy each other's personal friendship without the undercurrent of politics between them.

Zuko rushed quickly to dress himself in something more appropriate than his silk pajamas and headed down to the courtyard to greet his friend, alerting the guards and servants that an important visitor had arrived.

* * *

Her mind always seemed to come back to this place in sleep, no matter how long hard she tried to bury that part of her past. The warm summer night. A pale full moon shining over clear blue water. A boy she once called her best friend. Her own tears soaking her pillow that night. And then the scene changed to a dark red sky, lit up by a raging comet. The same boy stepping off an airship in tattered clothes.

"Katara! We are leaving in 10 minutes with or without you. Remember, we have a schedule to keep and you know how slow traveling by ship is. If you don't get your butt moving, we won't even get there until Zuko's first child is born."

Katara snapped from her dream, marveling at the fact that her brother still had the unique ability to irritate her even at their age. She rubbed her eyes and pushed away the layers of pelts surrounding her body. At that moment, she deeply regretted that she even agreed to go in the first place. She would much rather stay in the South Pole with her waterbending students than wake up before the crack of dawn for long sea voyage to the fire nation. But her friends were getting married; there was no way out of this one and although Katara was happy for them, the occasion also brought to the surface her own lack of prospects in the marriage department. No, it wasn't that she didn't have prospects, she amended herself. She had in fact received several marriage proposals in the two years since she reached marrying age, from all over the world even. Most of them were decent men, several even came from money and prestige, but none were right for her. Katara often felt foolish for holding onto hope but it was simply in her nature. For most of her life, she was likely the only person in the world who believed the Avatar would return and even now, she couldn't abandon hope.

"Alright, I'm up! Your precious schedule is safe," she yelled back.

She prepared only a small pack of belongings. It was only a week long trip and if she found herself lacking in anything, surely Zuko's grand palace would more than likely provide her with what she needed. Far more likely than it would be to find it at the South Pole.

Katara emerged from the ice hut to find Sokka, flustered and cross, trying to organize his ridiculously large pile of effects he had packed, mumbling to himself about how girls were impossible and took too long to get ready and they were going to be late for Zuko's ship that was personally sent to pick them up. She also found Suki standing nearby, rolling her eyes at her often times embarrassing fiancée, and her father, Chief Hakoda, speaking to his second in command about his duties to the tribe in his absence.

"Well, it's about time. I thought you were going to skip out on this trip last minute," he muttered quietly.

"You know I wouldn't do that. Zuko's our friend. I would never miss his wedding because of..." she stopped. Probably a good idea to stop talking, she thought.

"Because of what? Because of who might be there?" her brother replied with a grin.

"Sokka, stop teasing your sister," Hakoda admonished in his protective fatherly tone, "we should get going now. The ship will be here at any moment."

* * *

"Aang!"

"Long time no see, Sifu Hotman," the sixteen year-old Avatar responded with that infectious smile on his face, airbending his way down from Appa's head.

The two young men moved quickly to hug each other, a sign of their strong friendship in the years after the war, their old animosity long forgotten.

"Something's different about you, " Zuko wondered aloud, "but I can't put my finger on it. Did you get new robes?"

"No, same old clothes. You know me, I don't care about stuff like that," Aang replied.

"Wait a minute! You're taller than me! How did that happen?" the Firelord realized. This was Aang, the little boy with puppy dog eyes who was a head shorter and still had baby fat in his cheeks. The young man in front of him at the moment had no baby fat anywhere and now stood at least an inch taller than the Firelord himself. Where had all the time gone?

"I am? Wow. You're right," the Avatar answered gleefully. As a boy, he always lamented his short stature, especially compared to his taller companions, one particular companion especially. Lately he did start to notice that he towered over most people when he entered a room but he never imagined that he would ever overtake his firebending Sifu.

"I can't believe how much you've grown up since we last saw each other. It was only a few months ago. You've always been like a kid brother to me and now you're practically a grown up," Zuko reminisced, leading his friend to the stables to settle Appa down before heading back to the palace. "Are you tired? I could have a servant prepare a room for you right away."

"Not at all. We should catch up! Have anything to eat? I'm pretty hungry from all that traveling," Aang countered, filled with his usual energy.

"You know there's always food around here," Zuko said as he signaled to a servant and led Aang to the lavish sitting room. "Have a seat, Avatar."

"I can't believe you're getting married in a week. How does it feel?"

"Honestly, I've never happier. I guess I should thank you for that."

"Why me?"

"Well, I wouldn't have any of this if it hadn't been for you. You were the one who gave me a chance and accepted me into your group, even when I hadn't given you much reason to trust me," Zuko thought back to times before the war had ended and how much he still regretted his poor decisions. "How are you, Aang? I mean, I've heard all the rumors and I've read your letters but really, is everything okay?"

Zuko couldn't help but notice that his friend started to look away at the wall, but the Avatar maintained his cheerful smile. Zuko should've been reassured by it but somehow couldn't shake the feeling that Aang was putting on a mask for his sake.

"I'm great, Zuko. Really, "Aang replied sincerely.

"Speaking of my wedding... well, any plans to settle down? Find yourself a nice girl and get started on rebuilding those airbenders?"

"Hey, not all of us are in a rush to be tied down to the old ball and chain. And I have the acolytes to help now. I'm happy the way things are. I don't have anything tying me down right now. I'm free to do my Avatar duties wherever they take me and I can have fun too. What's not to like?" Aang said, trying to convince his friend. He didn't blame Zuko for trying though, even if it was a pretty easily recognizable veiled attempt at getting at another issue altogether.

"But what about, you know," Zuko hesitated, conflicted as to whether to bring up this topic. The hour was late, and he felt as though he owed his friend, whether out of a sense of guilt or generosity.

"What about what?"

"Come on, Aang. You know who I'm talking about. I just don't understand why you two aren't together. I thought, well, when I first joined you guys, I thought for sure that I'd be at your wedding before you'd be at mine. That is if I could get Katara to stop hating me long enough to even get an invite," Zuko attempted a bit of humor to break the tension. He wasn't good at this kind of thing. Talking about feelings and giving advice was his uncle's territory but he felt as though he had to give it a try. Aang was his friend, a good friend who helped him through his own tough times, and no matter how jolly his letters were, Zuko refused to believe that the Avatar didn't miss the girl.

Aang's smile had slowly faded, his expression replaced by a pensive and regretful look. He wasn't surprised at this line of questioning. In fact, he had fully expected it at some point. He just didn't realize it would happen just minutes after his arrival. He always had his prepared responses at the ready, as this was a question he faced many times from many people. _What about that lovely waterbender girl?_ _Weren't you two quite close during the war?_ _It wasn't meant to be. We had different goals after the war. _

It didn't matter if Aang believed those excuses himself, as long as he convinced everyone else. In fact, Aang had pushed thoughts of Katara out of his mind long ago.

"Look, Zuko. I appreciate the concern but it wasn't meant to be. We had our chance and it's long past."

"But why? You know that I was with Katara the day you fought my father. I watched her wait for you to come back. She was going crazy and she was starting to drive me crazy. She kept going on about how she messed up everything and crying about how she might never see you again. She loved you."

"That was a long time ago, Zuko. Can't we just put it to rest?" Aang replied, exhaustion settling in.

"Fine. I won't press any further. Except one more thing and be honest with me. Am I in any way to blame?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just that I might have also talked to Sokka and Toph about this," Zuko mumbled guiltily. "And when we got into the topic of you and Katara, they said that something changed after I joined the group. Naturally, I had no idea what that could possibly mean but then one day, Mai and I went on a trip to that beach on Ember Island and I thought of that awful play we saw. Remember that? I remember you disappeared after that ridiculously embarrassing scene of me and Katara in Ba Sing Se. Katara went out looking for you and when you guys came back later, you both seemed kinda different. At the time, I thought maybe you were just worried about having to face my father but something happened didn't it?"

"Yeah, something happened. But what does that have to do with me blaming you?"

"You know that there was never anything between me and Katara right? All that stuff in the play, it was totally ludicrous. Sometimes I wonder if the reason why you aren't with her is that you thought I was in the picture or something crazy like that. You should just know that Katara's like my sister. I have never ever in my life thought of her as anything else and I'm even more sure she never thought of me that way either," Zuko explained. He had been waiting to get that off his chest for some time now, afraid of jeopardizing their friendship and what Aang might say.

"Look, it might have crossed my mind a few times back then. I was a kid with an overactive imagination, okay? But trust me, Katara and I aren't together for a lot of reasons. You had nothing to do with it," Aang reassured, "I appreciate the concern, really I do. But I'm not a little kid anymore. I think we should call it a night."

And with that, the conversation was over. Zuko showed Aang to the guest bedroom and left him alone to think over the bothersome questions himself.

* * *

Hours after he left, Zuko slipped back into bed, hoping that Mai hadn't missed his presence but his highly observant fiancée was already awake. She turned to face him.

"We're not even married yet and you're already sneaking out of bed. Should I be worried?"

"Of course not. Aang just got here, I was helping him settle in."

"You know, the palace will be full of guests soon. Maybe we should take advantage of the privacy."

"Maybe we should."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I appreciate the feedback! Here is the next chapter. I still have not decided yet whether I want Aang and Katara to end up together romantically. This story will lead to a reconciliation of some sort though.

**Chapter 2**

Zuko spent most of the next day working and getting ready for the big wedding, dealing with the last minute changes to the guest list and trying his very best not to offend any important officials with the seating arrangement, while for Aang, the day was uneventful, for he appeared to be even more exhausted than he led on, sleeping the entire day. The next afternoon, Aang and Zuko decided to relive their days of sifu and student by practicing firebending. It was not very often that Aang could someone who dared to challenge the Avatar at anything, and having his old friend and Sifu back on his tail for his sloppy form was a nostalgic reminder of days past. However, Zuko got the feeling that Aang wasn't trying very hard at all and he sensed a distraction in Aang's thoughts. Perhaps their late night conversation got to him. Zuko's train of though was interrupted by a palace guard informing him that another party had arrived for the wedding, this time from the Southern Water Tribe. Zuko and Aang looked at each other, each man trying to decipher the other's thoughts.

Aang was the first to break the silence before running off like he did was a child, "Let's go say hello then!"

The Avatar and the Firelord quickly sprinted into the grand hall of the palace, where they saw four figures already waiting. A tall older man, that had to be Hakoda, and a younger man who was the splitting image of his father, good old Sokka. Then there was the lovely woman around Sokka's arm, Suki of course. And finally, a beautiful young woman standing off to the side. She was taller and more mature than the last time he saw her but Aang would recognize those blue eyes anywhere.

"I can't believe everyone's here, " Zuko said to catch their attention, "Well, except Toph and Uncle of course. But they'll be here tomorrow at the latest. It's so good to see you guys. How was the trip?"

"Long and boring, never thought I'd miss Appa that much," Sokka replied, as he hugged both Aang and Zuko.

"You were just mad the Captain didn't let you steer the ship," Suki added.

"Hey! My map was more accurate than his. We would've been here yesterday if he'd listened to my directions."

"As you can tell, my son's ego has been as healthy as ever," Hakoda chimed in, "Thank you for having us, Firelord Zuko. And it's good to see you again, Aang. I'd hoped we'd see more of each other."

"It's good to see you too, Chief Hakoda. I'm sorry I haven't been able to visit. Avatar business typically keeps me in the Earth Kingdom these days. Or should I say the United Republic. The new city is still in its early stages," Aang said respectfully of the older man.

"I understand. Leading is not an easy task," replied Hakoda.

"Aang's always been a natural at that, Dad."

Everyone in the room turned to look at Katara for a moment, and then looked towards Aang to see his reaction. He had only a smile on his face as he approached his former waterbending teacher. He placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned in for a hug, awkwardly trying to show everyone that things were fine between them. Katara in turn responded by wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning into his chest. When he pulled back, he gave her that smile. The smile she thought of every day.

"I'm so glad to see you, Katara."

"It's good to see you too, Aang," she said softly, "And I can't believe how tall you've gotten. I remember when I had to hunch over to hug you. Now you're practically taller than Sokka."

Her brother, offended at the statement, interjected, "No way! Aang's still a kid, he can't be taller than me."

It was almost like falling back into their old routine, as if barely any time had passed. Later that night, Toph arrived, having hitched a ride with Iroh. She gave a strong punch to the shoulder to all her old friends, except for Aang. They in fact saw each other quite frequently, working together in Republic City, and she saw no need to give him any special greeting.

"I can't believe we're all together again! It's been so long since we've all been in a room together," Toph bellowed excitedly. "It's like old times."

"Why haven't we been together more since the war ended?" Sokka wondered, "Where did all that time go?"

"We all have different roles in the world now, Sokka. Zuko has his country to run. I have to be wherever I'm needed. Toph has her metalbending academy. And you and Katara, you guys are helping your tribe recover its former glory. We're all doing important jobs," Aang answered.

"When'd you get so responsible? You used to want to ride ridiculous animals instead of training for the war."

"It's part of growing up I guess."

* * *

Sleep wouldn't come for Katara. She was no doubt worn out from the long travel, she had barely gotten any sleep the night before, and yet she found herself lying awake in the giant canopy bed of the fire nation guest room. She tried to convince herself it was the excitement of seeing her old friends together again and the upcoming wedding, but it was no use. The real reason for her restlessness was seeing Aang again. He had changed so much. Gone was the little boy who was brimming with childish energy. He was now a young man, still playful but weathered by the years of responsibility of keeping peace.

Katara had always thought he was a beautiful boy, even from the first moment they met at the iceberg, when he opened his big gray eyes and smiled at her for the first time, she was immediately struck by his sweet appearance. He had only been a child back then, but then again so had she. He had grown plenty in that year when they traveled around the world, growing more and more handsome each day.

But now. Now he was even more striking. His face was no longer round and pudgy, replaced by delicately handsome features but the same warm smile he gave her when they went penguin sledding as children. Of course, he towered over her now and his body, lean and fit from years of bending, was a marvel. The only thing that hadn't changed were his eyes.

Katara had often found herself dreaming about his eyes before the war's end, afraid of what it meant but at the same time, realizing it was unavoidable, inevitable that she would fall in love with him. She remembered how terrified she was of feeling that pull to him, and when she finally understood what her quickening heart and sweaty palms signified, she could think of no solution but to bury it deep and hide it away. She couldn't risk it, not when thing were so uncertain, not when those feelings could be her undoing or his. Yet she knew in retrospect, that by acting in what she believed to be his best interest and her own, she had permanently altered their relationship and it had cost her deeply.

After the war, Aang had left her alone, at first making up excuses of Avatar duties and encouraging her to return to the Southern Water Tribe to train new waterbenders, but eventually no longer hiding the fact that he wanted nothing to do with her anymore. In all honestly, Katara had not even thought about what would happen after it all ended when the war was still raging. She hadn't allowed herself to imagine her future with Aang, not after what happened in Ba Sing Se, nor did she realize that perhaps his feelings for her would change because of her own inaction.

Most days, she managed to keep Aang out of her thoughts. It wasn't like she was just sitting around moping all day. She led a busy life – helping her father rebuild the tribe was a challenging task and she had her waterbending students to keep her occupied. She had friends, even went on dates once in a while, but there was no doubt that she was missing something in her life. She wasn't even sure if that something was Aang, or maybe it was what she felt when she was with him. Passion, drive, love. She had hardly been aware of those feelings when she had him in front of her every day, but the absence was felt now that she didn't, never imagining as a 14 year-old that one day, Aang wouldn't be at her side.

It was so simple and yet she hadn't realized it in time to save her from heartbreak. Was this the curse of love and passion? Perhaps loving someone too much only leads to a broken heart. No, she thought, that certainly wasn't true for everyone. She thought of Zuko and Mai, childhood friends who overcame the odds, and Sokka and Suki, who had very different responsibilities that often took them far away from each other yet they managed to make it work. And yet, Katara felt her own bond with Aang had been stronger than any of theirs. She had brought him back from the dead, pulled him out of the Avatar state, and protected him from anyone that had dared to hurt him. She had been the one destined to find him in that iceberg when everyone else believed him to be long dead, so then why were her friends happily in love and she was stuck here filled with longing and regret?

Deciding that forcing sleep was entirely futile and sulking alone in her room wasn't getting her anywhere, Katara lifted herself out of the ridiculously huge bed and put on the luxurious silk robe left by the servants before heading out the door, unsure of where to go.

The halls were decorated with low hanging chandeliers filled with candles and bright red drapery, typical of fire nation decor. Katara had never liked the color; even since she was a child, red had been associated with death and destruction. Her mother's body, the blood gushing out from Aang's lightning wound, the sky on the day of the comet.

She continued to wander aimlessly, until she reached a half open door. She right away whose room it was, even before she peaked in and saw the young man meditating at the center of his bed. She stopped in her tracks, conflicted as to whether to approach him or not. It had been years since they were alone together, she worried that maybe their easy companionship was lost forever. She recalled countless nights camping out in the wilderness, when Sokka and Toph were asleep, Katara used to stay up with Aang and talk about silly things, act like children again. They'd talk about their childhoods, things they missed about home, anything and everything. Katara hated the idea that maybe that aspect of their relationship was lost forever.

Before she lost her courage, she knocked lightly on the half open door, jolting Aang out of his meditative state. He opened his eyes and greeted her with a smile, "Hey, Katara. What are you still doing up?"

"I couldn't sleep. I guess my schedule's all messed up from the travel since I'm not as used to it anymore," she replied.

"Well, come on in. We can keep each other company. I practically slept through an entire day before you got here so I'm wide awake," he boasted, gesturing her to take a seat next to him on the bed, which she happily obliged.

"I keep thinking back to the last time we were all here, right after the comet. It feels like ages ago, doesn't it?" she pondered.

"Yeah, it does. Time really flies when you kept yourself busy I guess," he said as he moved to sit closer to her on the edge of the bed, "How are your watebending students? Are they being good and listening to Sifu Katara?"

"Most of them, I do have a few troublemakers like you," she replied playfully, almost as if they were the same old Aang and Katara, teasing each other.

"I wasn't that bad! I learned eventually didn't I?"

Katara laughed at his denial, "I suppose you did but you could've learned it faster if you had just worked harder at the North Pole."

"What, you weren't impressed at all by my snowman? I thought it was a pretty neat trick," he teased back.

"I'll admit it was pretty cute. It's funny you know, just last week, one of my students used waterbending to make a moving snowman and I thought of you," she told him tenderly, feeling the need to let him know that she still cared about him deeply, "Actually a lot of things remind me of you. Just little things like penguins and sea prunes and when Sokka got his finger caught in his fishing hook again. I really miss you, Aang."

She waited breathlessly for his response. She didn't know what she would do if he didn't feel the same.

"I know what you mean, I really miss this. Us being… us," he gave her such a sweet smile, Katara felt as though he might kiss her any minute. But she wasn't fool enough to believe he actually would. Not after what happened last time.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: This is when the story goes to M. Feedback is appreciated as always!

**Chapter 3**

Aang had no idea why they were having a party before the wedding; he assumed the wedding was the party. Another party just meant more people trying to talk to him and more people who wanted to introduce him to their daughter or sister. The night had barely started and he had already been force to talk to five generals and their daughters. It was all rather ridiculous and it was about to get even worse, as Aang spied yet another jolly old man approaching him with a young lady not far behind. He had to get away from this.

"Hey Toph," he nudged at the blind girl, "If I have to talk to another one of these stuffy politicians, I'm going to burst. Cover for me pretty please?"

"What do I get out of it, Twinkletoes?" Toph countered.

"I'll let you help me landscape the new island?" Aang offered sweetly.

"You've got yourself a deal. Well, get out of here already, I can practically feel the girl's heartbeat jumping out of her chest."

Aang made his escape through the crowd, which had become much more difficult now that he was so tall and still getting used to his changed body, bumping into tables and chairs and plenty of guests. When he finally made his way out of the ballroom, a beautiful face greeted him in the empty corridor. No matter how many times he tried to deny himself, Aang could never hide his reaction to Katara's beauty. She looked simply stunning, like goddess wrapped in gorgeous blue silk as if she were a gift from the spirits.

"Aang! What are you doing? I thought you'd be at the party."

"I had to get out of there. I felt like a piece of meat, not fun."

"Well, since you're done in there, maybe you'd like to hang out with me for the rest of the night, like old times? I had food and drinks sent up to my room already," Katara asked hopefully.

"I'd love to," Aang replied. He was tired of running from her. She looked so beautiful tonight, he reckoned he wouldn't be able to deny her anything.

They walked slowly in comfortable silence up the grand staircase, and down the long hallway to Katara's guest room in the south wing of the palace. Katara wasn't kidding about the food; in fact, it seemed the servants had completely overdone her request. There were desserts, fruits, the finest wines, all laid out perfectly on a long wooden table.

"Wow, they sure know how to treat an Avatar here," Aang had already started stuffing egg custard tarts into his mouth as he spoke.

Katara laughed at the familiar sight, "How about we pop open a bottle of- , "she read aloud from the label, "the finest wine in all four nations?"

As neither Aang nor Katara were heavy drinkers, they both decided that one glass each was more than enough to satisfy their curiosity. They both agreed that the wine was hardly special, and Aang remarked that he didn't how 'fine' it was, he would prefer lychee juice over it any day. Slowly but surely the wine started to have its mild effect, as Katara could not stop giggling at every Aang said. Aang wasn't sure if she was really impaired or if he was just being particularly funny tonight. He didn't care anymore.

Somehow, they ended up having a pillow fight, neither could recall how that one started but when they finally caught their breaths, little feathers were still floating around the room. Aang had to admit, it felt good to be with Katara again. It felt right.

"Hey Aang," Katara's voice broke him out of his reverie. She leaned in close to him, their noses almost touching.

"Yeah?" Aang whispered, staring intently into her bright blue eyes.

"I always thought you and I would get married. And I imagined we'd have three kids eventually, a waterbender, an airbender and maybe a non-bender too," she spoke with a lack of inhibition, no doubt the wine's subtle work.

"Yeah, that sounds nice," Aang replied.

"So then why don't you want me?" Katara wondered aloud, "Do you think I'm not pretty enough?"

"Katara, you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen," Aang whispered into her ear, "I can't even close my eyes without imagining your face."

"Then why don't we do something about that," she said boldly, pressing her lips to his.

Their kisses were sloppy at first, the wine in their systems making coordination slightly more difficult, but they soon grew confident in their passion. Aang pushed her back to lie on the bed, cradling her head in his hands, trying to get as close to her as possible, while Katara emboldened by his response, wrapped her legs around his waist, wanting to feel every inch of his perfect body.

Aang's lips soon moved to Katara's neck, licking his way across her shoulders to pant into her ear, "I want you so much."

Katara moaned in response, "Please."

He took that as an approval. He pulled back from her delicious body and took in her disheveled appearance, completely undone by lust. He then quickly pulled down the straps of her gown, exposing her bare breasts to his hungry eyes for the first time. They were perfect, he thought, as he brought his hands to touch them, giving them a proper squeeze before playing with her hard brown nipples.

Katara felt as though her body were on fire. Every touch from Aang made her burn hotter, made her want him even more. If she didn't have him inside her soon, she would certainly burst into flames. Rather than wait for him to make all the moves, she chose to take initiative and moved to pull take off his upper robe. He had worn layers tonight, something he now regretted as they struggled to untangle the mess of cloth. When the garment was finally removed successfully, Katara mouth fell open at the sight of Aang's bare chest. He had always had a beautifully sculpted body, even as a young boy, but spirits, she could hardly breathe when she finally laid eyes on his mature body. She ran her hands over his chest and then up and down his back, stopping at that terrible scar.

Aang continued to massage her breast, unable to stop marveling at the way she perfectly fit in his hand. He then clasped his mouth over her left nipple, darting his tongue out to taste her, swirling it around the elevated nub.

Katara couldn't wait any longer. She was going crazy just from Aang's mouth on her breast. She pleaded with him, "Please, Aang. Hurry."

Her pleas were heard loud and clear by Aang, who removed his hands from her breasts to untie his pants and bunch up the skirt of Katara's dress to her waist, delighted to find that she was bare underneath. Once Aang removed his pants far enough to release his hardness, Katara grasped him in her hand and stroked him, bringing him into her spread legs, as she looked down their bodies to watch their joining. She positioned him directly at her soaking wet entrance, wincing briefly as he pushed forward into his wanting body. Katara had never been penetrated before, and while she had touched herself plenty of times, it was different than having Aang's hard cock stretching her body.

They remained motionless for several moments. Aang, waiting for her to get used to his length before proceeding forward, kissed her hard, caressing her mouth with his tongue as she brought her legs to wrap around him, heels resting on his buttocks.

"I'm ready, Aang," she whispered in his ear.

Reassured that she was no longer in pain, Aang pulled back and pressed forward again, enjoying the wonderful slickness of her tight opening. They both let out a loud moan as the sensation overwhelmed them. Aang began to move faster and faster, pulling her legs up higher to his waist so he could get deeper into her. Soon, he was pounding into her, mattress springs creaking and bed post banging into the wall.

"Ohhhh, Aang. Don't stop, that feels so good," Katara mewled, her voice becoming louder and uncontrolled, as she was approaching her peak.

Aang continued to slam into her body even faster, skins slapping skin, Katara's breasts bouncing from the force of his thrusts. And then, she let out a long scream, as her body tensed and spasmed. It had felt like nothing she'd ever experienced, her experiments with her own fingers paled in comparison to the pure unadulterated pleasure of her orgasm. As she came down from her high, she noticed that Aang had slowed his movements, but that he had not reached his own orgasm. Instead he pulled out of her, and said with a devilish smile, "We're not done yet. Turn around and get on your hands and knees, okay?"

Katara complied without questions, curious to see how this new position would fare. When she got into position, Aang came at her from behind and again, bunched up her skirt at her waist, admiring the phenomenal view of her behind. He moved to place his cock at her entrance and pushed in roughly this time, no longer afraid of hurting her. Katara let out of a harsh scream, surprised at the boldness. The new position felt even more erotic and animalistic. She could feel every inch of him.

Aang placed his hands on her hips as he eased himself in and out of her and then moving his hands to her still exposed breasts and then let one hand slip down to stroke her clit. The combination of his pounding cock and his fingers was too much for Katara, as she came hard once again. This time, Aang's own climax quickly followed and he emptied himself into her, grunting her name. He pulled out of her body and turned her around again so he could see that beautiful face, kissing her passionately and holding onto her as if she was his lifeline, as she held onto him too.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Here's the next chapter. The next ones might be a little slower since I haven't written past this part and haven't completely decided what I want to do. Warning - this chapter has quite a lot of kataangst.

**Chapter 4**

Although they were drained from hours of lovemaking, Aang and Katara found that they could not sleep. They had spent the night joining together, tasting each other over and over again. They should be sound asleep by now. Instead, they remained wrapped around each other, kissing occasionally, touching every inch of their skin, noses grazing.

Katara didn't want to leave this dream state. It was too perfect, too beautiful to disturb. She had imagined for so long what it would be like to have Aang and here he was right now, in her bed, caressing her skin, kissing her, breathing in her hair. It almost felt like a fantasy, too good to be real.

As much as she wanted to stay in this bliss, she needed answers from him. What did this mean for them. Would he move to the South Pole with her or would he invite her to travel with him. There were still too many unanswered questions.

"Aang, I think we should talk about this."

"Do we have to? Talking just makes things more complicated. I'd rather just enjoy the time we have together," he nuzzled into her hair, pulling her closer under the covers.

"Wait, the time we have? So this is just a little fling to you?" Katara recoiled in anger, disappointment creeping onto her face. She hadn't expected this from him. She thought their joining was an indication that their bond was reformed, an act of love. Aang was reacting to her like she was one of his fan girls he couldn't get away from fast enough.

"I don't know, Katara," Aang began, "Everything's all jumbled up in my head right now. I feel like I'm being pulled in opposite directions when I'm with you. A part of me wants this to last forever but then I remember why we haven't been together for the last three years and I just don't know if I can put myself on the line again."

"Aang, you can't avoid this anymore. There's too much between us, there always has been," Katara explained, placing a hand on his cheek and leaning in to kiss the corner of his mouth, "I love you."

Aang stiffened at her confession, his head and his heart raging against each other for his reaction. His heart wanted nothing more than to kiss her senseless and tell her that he loved her too, but he had trained his mind too well in the last three years. He couldn't react.

"I think we should clear our heads for a bit before making any decisions. We probably still have that wine in our system," he finally spoke, though he could see that Katara was visibly hurt by his lack of response to her declaration of love. Her eyes began to water and it deeply wounded Aang to know that he made her upset, but he wasn't ready to do anything more. Not after how much it hurt last time.

Katara pulled away from him, her temper beginning to flare at his insensitivity.

"You're acting like everything is my fault, like I was the only one who made mistakes and hurt you, but you didn't even bother to wait to hear my side of the story. Maybe it wouldn't have made a difference to you but maybe it would have and we'd be together right now instead of sad and alone," Katara said vehemently, "You're the one who gave up on us. You hurt me too. Don't you think I deserved more than a letter? You didn't even give me a chance. You just left. We were supposed to go to Ba Sing Se together, to visit Iroh's tea shop and I was planning on telling you everything when we got there."

"I didn't think anything needed to be said," Aang replied softly. He knew this was a lie but he had trained himself to believe it as the truth. The real truth was at the time, he didn't want to hear what Katara had to say. He wanted to run away so he would never have to suffer heartbreak, and yet it happened anyways.

"How could you say that? We'd barely spoken for weeks."

"And whose fault was that, Katara?"

"Aang, I'm sorry! But I was feeling confused at the time-"

Aang groaned and immediately felt the need to get as far away from her as possible, "There's that word again. I would really really love it if you stopped saying that to me, okay? It never seems to end well."

He removed himself from beside her, instead choosing to sit on the edge of the bed, trying to stay out of reach.

"If you'd just let me explain, you would know that I never felt confused about you. I was confused about how to deal with everything that was happening. Things were crazy back then. There's no way we could've handled starting a relationship. You know how much I loved you, Aang."

"So you thought it was better to leave me hanging? Why did you go through all that trouble of avoiding me and lying to me if you really felt the same the whole time?" he was starting to get irritated at her excuses.

"I don't know. I just did it because I thought it'd be easier than having to face my feelings for you. It was stupid but I couldn't think of anything else. Are you really going to hold that against me for the rest of our lives?" Katara questioned him desperately.

"I just, I didn't want to you to feel like you had to love me just because I saved the world. You looked so guilty and you looked at me with such pity, I couldn't handle having you feel like I was an obligation."

"Aang, how could you even think that?"

"What was I supposed to think? You didn't exactly give me much to work with," he replied, moving to pick up his clothes off the floor and redress himself. He couldn't stop moving, he wanted to get away. He dressed as quickly as he could, pausing before heading towards the door.

He sighed, "Katara, it's not that I don't love you. But sometimes love isn't enough."

He slammed the door behind him.

Katara refused to let him get away with it this time. She had tried so hard to protect him in the past and all it did was make both of them miserable. She had to settle this thing with Aang once and for all, even if it meant hurting him, hurting herself. All she knew was that she couldn't go back to the way things were.

Having dressed herself in whatever she could find lying around, she followed Aang into the courtyard of the palace. "Aang! We're not done yet."

Aang turned around briefly, surprised that she caught up to him already but did not reply, instead walking even faster.

"Oh fine, Aang! Just walk away. Why don't you run away from this like you do with everything that's just a tiny bit difficult."

Aang stopped in his tracks, and turned around in anger. She had said hurtful things to him before when her temper flared but he simply could not let this one slide.

"Oh please, Katara. You're the one who ran from me remember? Or are you having selective memory now?"

Katara stepped back in shock. This was sweet, gentle, adorable Aang who rarely raised his voice to even the harshest of men and now she was the target of his rage. It was scary and exciting to see him like this, Katara having finally rattled his passions when he had tried to kept them hidden for so long.

"Why are you being like this, Aang? This isn't you," she had to press on; otherwise they would never get through this.

"I needed you, Katara. I was just a kid! I thought I was going to die and I needed my best friend to tell me everything would be okay and you weren't there," his voice started to falter, as he shook his head. "You were my best friend and you shut me out."

The tears in Katara's eyes that she had tried desperately to hold back poured out like water from a broken dam, as she buried her face into her hands, trying but failing to hide her torment. Her sobs echoed into the night sky.

"I know I was the one who made things complicated between us. I'm not saying I don't have any share in the blame but I still needed you. I thought you knew that. I thought you knew me. You have no idea what it was like, waiting to face the scariest man in the world alone. I couldn't even talk to my best friend cause I thought she hated me."

"And when I came back, remember that? You barely said two words to me. When I got off that airship, I thought maybe you'd be happy to see me, that maybe you'd realize that I was still important to you."

"Aang, you were important to me. You're the most important person in the world to me. I don't know why I did that. I was in shock. I didn't know how to talk to you, not after what I did."

Aang shook his head in disbelief, "Maybe that's why we shouldn't be together since you found telling me the truth to be so hard."

"So that's it then? I've ruined everything?" Katara lamented hopelessly. She no longer cared about her pride or keeping up appearances. Her despair was already apparent.

"You haven't ruined anything, Katara. You made me realize that I couldn't rely on you forever. I had to learn how to be on my own eventually. It just happened sooner than later I guess."

And with that, he walked away from her, leaving her out in the courtyard alone, kneeling on the ground in tears.


End file.
